Sunday, March 30, 2008

Moisture attracts ducks...DB Challenge March

Daring Baker's Challenge March. And off we go, loads of butter and eggs. Our hostess this time is Morven and the recipe is called Perfect Party Cake, from the book that almost every US baking citizen owns; "Baking, from my home to yours" by Dorie Greenspan.

I was nervous. Perfect and cake in one sentence is not something I feel comfortable with. There was a mention of buttercream as well. Shudder. I've made quite a couple of buttercreams and I think I can say I mastered the technique, it never curdles, goes on nice and shiny... but we don't like the butter taste!

Obviously I had my ducks in a row this time, but this isn't going to be my cake. Not sure if it's is a cultural thing, or just my inability to bake a proper cake but girls and boys, if I want to have a moist cake, I'll just hold it under the tap, drench it in some adult drink or leave it out in the rain.

It's a 2-layer cake. Not that I planned it that way, no. Used cake flour, whipped till it spun but still my cake batter was liquid. Cakes should have been high, high and fluffy so each layer could be sliced in half, my layers? Approx. 1 inch high. Dense. Moist. Clinging. Oh ánd buttercream, so after eating a piece of this you aren't able to open your mouth for a while.
Hmm, might be useful for some people. Me.
Haven't tasted it yet, just the cut off tops.

I think the ducks were attracted to the little pink puddle in the -almost- center of the cake. (I made some luscious blood orange curd to fight the buttercream, recipe will follow!)

My inner child got the best of my decorating skills I'm afraid.






Breaking news! We cut the cake this morning, served it to our guests cautioning them that it was ok not to eat it.
They ate anyway. Even my kids ate it. Hell, even Wessel ate his piece. All of it. Unbelievable!
I ate it.
It was not as bad as I thought. Mission completed. Again!

My apologies for the haphazard post, wrote this on and off inbetween preparing and waiting for our guests, and now they have just left the building...
Just wanted to add that I procrastinated big time, baked it yesterday morning with my Baking Burka Buddies: Tanna and Ilva! Thanks for the giggles girls!

Don't forget to check out the Daring Baker's Blogroll on the right hand side of the screen! I know there are some marvellous decorated cakes out there!

58 comments:

  1. Oh how cute is that cake! I love the sprinkles on top and on the sides. If I was a little girl I would love this cake! Lovely job!

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  2. That is such a fun cake...great job :-)

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  3. Well, will wonders never cease. You could eat it.
    Karen it looks beautiful! And I love the idea of the ducks in that little red puddle!
    And my goodness it is glorious to laugh across our little pond!! Are we Ducks? Duck Babes? !!! Thank you so much.

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  4. You made a very pretty version!

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  5. Karen, you crack me up! Yea, this cake wasn't much of a riser was it? But then if the guests liked it then all must be well...

    Sad to see you, Tanna, and Ilva had absolutely NO fun what so ever baking ;-)

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  6. So colorful and delicious looking. Thank you for sharing that truly perfect cake!

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  7. AMAZING! I found the breaking news rather cool LOL! It certainly looks gorgeous!

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  8. Your cake looks wonderful. Congratulations on a successful challenge! To the next one we go.

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  9. Ah, how nice to hear that everyone liked it! I know what you mean about the taste and texture of the cake being a cultural thing - all my English relatives were polite about it but not in love with it. Still, your cake is wonderfully fun looking and sounds like it was a hit!

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  10. Well done, your cake looks perfect, no wonder your guests loved it.

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  11. I love the decorations and the ducks too! Let that inner child go wild! I'm glad it turned out better than you expected. The thought of Blood Orange curd makes my mouth water.mmmm.
    xoxo
    Gabi

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  12. Inner child did a marvelous job. And you definitely get the prize for the most interesting post title! I'm glad it got eaten because it's just too pretty to go to waste.

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  13. Amazing! Your cake looks wonderful!

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  14. Beautiful job! I love the way you decorated it and the ducks are adorable. Glad to know everybody ate some!

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  15. Oh, it's so pretty! I was looking forward to what others did with their cakes and yours makes me almost tear up, it's so nice. My didn't look very good--but it tasted great!

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  16. The inner child decorator make a pretty cake! Wonderful job *winks*

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  17. Well I'm glad all was well in the end! our cake is gorgeous, ducks are so cute, and those lilac and pink sprinkles as very pretty!

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  18. Such a pretty cake - I love the sprinkles!

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  19. It looks beautiful Karin! I put mine up today too. Your decorating is much better than mine was! :)

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  20. You're just so funny! I think the cake looks lovely and I especially like the tiny decorations!

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  21. Great job on the cake! It looks very pretty!

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  22. Blij dat het concept van buttercream de grote oversteek naar deze kant van de oceaan voorlopig niet gaat maken. Althans niet als het aan jou of mij ligt. Yak! Wat raar dat jouw cake niet 'omhoog' kwam. Maar je decoratie vaardigheden zijn uit de kunst, hoor.
    Groetjes

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  23. I love the stream-of-consciousness form of this post.

    Love your little duckies...
    j

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  24. Lovely cake! And such a funny post!!

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  25. Beautiful job! Glad your family (and the ducks!) liked the cake.

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  26. Blood orange curd...yummy! I feel the same way about buttercream, it's not really my thing. I love your chocolate jimmies! They're making me hungry for some reason :)

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  27. Wow!!!! What fantastic decoration!!!! It looks so pretty! Those ducks are cute!

    Sorry it didn't rise how you expected, but it sounds like it was a hit with your family and guests!!!! Congrats!

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  28. Cute cake. Love the little ducks!! So fun:) Nice job on this challenge!

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  29. I love your use of blood orange. Great job!

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  30. This is a pretty cake! :)

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  31. The blood orange curd would have been fabulous!

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  32. Your decoration is so nice, so fun! I agree, buttercream is not my thing, I feel like I'm eating a stick of butter.

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  33. What a fun looking cake! I'm so glad everyone enjoyed it! :)

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  34. Ah Karen! I don't feel so bad with my two little layers now :) Thanks for cheering me up with your post...had a few giggles myself :) We definitely could have joined forces for a 4-layer cake! Plus buttercream! And ducks! ;)

    Great decorating!!!

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  35. That is a gorgeous cake. I love the decorations on it.

    And heavens did this cake use so many eggs! And I think your cake came out higher than mine, I think you could have still layered yours had you been careful.

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  36. You made your cake look awesome!

    Mine was a 2-layer as well - I'm happy your cake was so well-received.

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  37. I love your decorating - so fun!

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  38. Your cake turned out adorable! Very whimsical!

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  39. Your cake looks so festive. It's fun to bake with someone isn't it?

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  40. Oh, chocolate sprinkles on the side. Did I mention I could handfuls of them by themselves? I love it. So colorful, so beautiful your cake is.

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  41. You did a wonderful job on your cake...your inner child did you proud. I love the idea of blood orange curd too.

    Natalie @ Gluten A Go Go

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  42. Haha, how cute! I hope that the ducks enjoyed the cake as well! ;) It's really a lot of fun, and I'm sure it would be welcome at any party.

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  43. Still looks fantastic even if it wasn't your thing.

    x x x

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  44. oh, your cake looks so deliciously pretty! great job!

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  45. Your cake looks lovely, and I'm glad to hear it was not the disaster you thought it would turn out to be!

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  46. I don't know what's better, the beautifully decorated (and delicious)cake or the precious little duckies! What a wonderful job!

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  47. Lovely cake!

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  48. This citizen does not have the book, I really should!

    I think your decorating sense is so whimsical, sorry the cake didn't work out better for you!

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  49. Hi you all! Thanks for all the comments, I thoroughly appreciate you taking the time to leave a note here.

    Again, sorry for the post to be so wishy washy, (still struggling with the new format here as well) but I really wanted to post on the 30st and was a little short in time. Allthough the cake itself disappointed me in baking up, the sum of the parts really added up.

    About the ducks; these were our place holders at our wedding dinner 17 years ago...

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  50. I love your inner child decor, it looks fabulous! Looking forward to your blood orange curd recipe!

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  51. Such a lovely cake! loved the colors and the little ducks are adorable :)

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  52. I wish my cake had been moister . . . maybe ducks would have come to me too!

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  53. Awesome cake! I think you are a cake baker and just don't know it. Cute ducks too, lol.

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  54. Wat mooi!!! Hoort in een etalage:-)

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  55. I love your decorations, very cute!

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  56. Those duckies are so cute, Karen!!

    The blood orange curd looks amazing.. has to be one of the best fillings I've seen in these cakes so far!

    And I love the way you decorated it.. very pretty! :D

    xoxo

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  57. Cake looks just adorable! I love the sound of the blood orange curd - yum! Glad your guests enjoyed it and that you even thought it wasn't too bad! :)

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  58. I'd say you had no reason to be nervous. Even with you dislike of butter cream you did a terrific job of piping it.

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